My Mate’s Shadow in My Bed

I was still lying on the cold floor, a dull ache throbbing in my lower abdomen.

The tiny life was completely gone from my body.

"Lucia? Are you okay?" Arabella knelt, pretending to check my forehead for a fever.

I opened my eyes and looked at her fake, concerned face.

All the pain, all the anger, vanished in that instant.

A dead, chilling calm settled over me.

"I'm fine," I said, sitting up. My voice was eerily calm, devoid of all emotion.

Tristan and Ronan exchanged a look. They thought I'd gone mad.

"Really?" Ronan asked, a flicker of unease in his eyes.

"Yes." I stood up, straightening my clothes. "You're right."

Arabella froze. "What?"

I turned to her, a strange smile on my lips. "Thank you for the purification, Arabella. I'll do whatever you want. That includes the ceremony tomorrow. I'll be there."

"Good," Arabella sneered, her vicious smile back in place, as if she could crush me with a thought. "Then consider today's purification an early celebration, Luna."

"Of course," I nodded. "After all, the truth always comes out in the end."

They didn't catch the darkness coiled beneath my words.

"You need to rest," Ronan said. "Tomorrow is a big day."

"It certainly is," I agreed. "You should get some sleep too. Tomorrow," I promised, "is going to be a show they'll never forget."

After they left, I locked my door and pulled out my phone.

The first call was to Maya.

"Lucia? It's so late..." Maya's voice was sleepy.

"Maya, do you remember our time at the academy?"

"What about it?"

"About Arabella bullying you."

There was a silence on the other end.

"What are you getting at?"

"Are you coming to the Luna ceremony tomorrow?"

"I... I wasn't invited."

"You are now," I said. "Trust me, you'll want to see this."

The second call was to Lisa.

Then the third, the fourth...

I called every girl Arabella had ever broken, every soul whose pain had been twisted and pinned on me.

"Do you want the truth?" I asked each of them. "Do you want to see the real demon exposed?"

Then, I started gathering my evidence.

The recording on my phone.

The collar around my neck.

And my pregnancy report.

Everything was ready.

I walked to the mirror and looked at the pale, haggard woman staring back.

Bloodshot eyes. Purple bruises. And the collar, still hanging on my dresser, the word "Pet" a permanent scar.

A ghost of a smile touched my lips as I met my own gaze. “You want a show?” I whispered to the broken woman in the mirror. “I’ll give you a goddamn massacre.”

When the first rays of dawn hit my window, everything was in place.

I showered and put on the pure white Luna ceremony gown.

The hallways were already decorated with ribbons and flowers. Guests were arriving, their laughter echoing from the main hall.

"Today's your big day," Arabella said, descending the stairs. She was wearing the "Moon Goddess Necklace." "Nervous?"

"Not at all."

I met her gaze, my smile brilliant and sharp as a shard of glass. "Oh, I'm practically counting the seconds, Arabella."

The moment I stepped into Moonlight Square, hundreds of pairs of eyes locked onto me.

I looked at the sea of faces in the crowd.

Maya was there. So was Lisa.

And a dozen other girls I had contacted, all standing in the back rows.

Every one of them had the same fire, the same anticipation in their eyes.

"Nervous?" Ronan appeared at my side, reaching out to touch my cheek.

I flinched away.

"A little," I said, lowering my head, pretending to be shy.

"Don't be," he whispered in my ear. "It'll be over soon."

Yes, it'll be over soon.

The music began.

I walked toward the altar on Tristan's arm.

I saw Arabella in the front row.

She smiled at me, but her eyes were gleaming with malice.

"Esteemed guests," Tristan said, stepping up to the microphone. "Today is a great day for the Silver Moon pack. We will witness the birth of a new Luna."

The crowd applauded.

"But before we begin," Tristan's voice dropped, suddenly cold as ice, "there's a truth I must share. I will not be mating Lucia. I will be mating with Arabella."

Here it comes.

"And this woman," he pointed at me, "is not fit to be our Luna. Because she..."

"Wait."

I cut him off.

The entire square fell silent.

"Before you continue, I have something I'd like to show everyone."